What a Forensic Accountant does (A complete guide to forensic accounting) - YouTube

have you ever watched the Klan show CSI the  forensic scientist flashlights in hand comes  

every inch of the murder scene two clues well  forensic accountants do the same kind of work  

but in the financial rules we investigate  allegations of fraud forensic accountants  

are quite often considered accounting  pathologists our our job is to come in  

and tell the story of how the crime happened  the incriminating evidence comes from bank  

statements and Ledger's why because the  numbers tell the story in this video I'm  

going to explain what a forensic accountant  does how to become a forensic accountant  

what you need to consider when selecting  a forensic accountant and discuss the risk  

in dabbling what you learn in this video you  will be able to use straight away so let's go

you every transaction is a potential clip  on a case I worked a big company suspected  

one of its executives of embezzling money but  didn't have the proof from investigating the  

company's travel and entertainment expenses it  was easy for the fraudster to hide a few small  

transactions especially since the tickets were for  a destination where the company does business but  

the company did not do business at Christmastime  and tickets weren't purchased for five people  

they were usually purchased for one and staff  aren't allowed to travel on the same plate for  

disaster risk mitigation purposes to confirm  that I was on to something I turned to social  

media between Facebook Instagram and Twitter I was  able to review the most lavish breathtaking and  

captivating holiday pictures posted by the wife  and son I mean this was the real lifestyles of the  

rich and famous in fact they both had tagged their  dad the executive in the pictures this process led  

me to the real story people leave bread crumbs  everywhere no matter how sophisticated the crime  

take the Bernie Madoff investigation by the  federal government in 2009 for example what's  

so interesting about Madoff is how simple it  really was simple considering that Madoff had  

been successfully running a massive Ponzi scheme  for twenty years he'd stolen billions of dollars  

with clients whose investments he was managing  everything was fake and none of the transactions  

that he claims to have done were real but his firm  backdated fake stock trades to make them look real  

and then kept track of the fraud on posters but  was those little post-it notes that really helped  

the investigators figure out everything that was  going on in recent years financial scandals like  

Madoff Ponzi scheme have shown how important  trained experienced financial investigators  

really are in the era of globalization big data  and deregulation there's a lot of temptation to  

make a fast buck or take advantage of consumers  trust for a bigger payday and to make it worse  

there is a global shortage of forensic accountants  this is key to take note of for any of you looking  

for a career to fight corruption and to keep  matters fair there is an ever-growing need  

for forensic accountants who can find analyze and  communicate fraud and deception to the authorities  

business owners company executives the media  and to the public however it's not all fraud  

and deception granted that's the exciting stuff  but forensic accountants have a role in all sorts  

of financial business and legal settings but  you'll have to watch my other videos for me to  

get tuned to that so here's a quick plug for you  to subscribe to my youtube channel uncover fraud  

let's talk a bit about the forensic accounting  Job Description forensic accountants go through a  

three step process discovery finding the evidence  when there is a suspicion of wrongdoing analysis  

examining the evidence to figure out who did what  to whom and how and reporting this is where the  

storytelling comes in laying out the evidence  for clarity and explaining every aspect of the  

case in detail the responsibilities of a forensic  accountant include preparing at findings with the  

understanding that our research will probably be  used in court either in a civil suit or criminal  

prosecution a forensic accountant will provide  litigation support and this can entail calculating  

the economic damage for example when somebody  violates a written contract in addition he or she  

will provide what is referred to as investigative  account this can involve assignments related to  

insurance or securities fraud wrongdoing related  to kickbacks employee theft and more a forensic  

accountant needs to possess all the skills  to conduct in-depth examinations of complex  

financial records and accounts and he or she  must be available to communicate with other  

members of the legal investigation team to keep  them up to date as developments occur a major  

part of the forensic accountant job description  is the ability to effectively convey financial  

information in a manner that is appropriate for  court room setting explaining complex situations  

in a simple to understand manner is key having  life experiences to pull from to draw analogies  

having great communication skills really makes the  difference a lot of what forensic accountants do  

is the same thing investigators detectives and the  police have done always look for clues establish  

patterns and find motivation but computer  technology has transformed the business and  

along with it transforms financial crime of course  it's also transformed a financial investigation  

a strong forensic accountant will have strong  skills in data collection data analytics and  

data visualization as blockchain technology  impacts accounting data skills may become the  

most important aspect of forensic accounting  as a forensic accountant you'll find yourself  

conducting audits the first type forensic audits  examine a company's finances for signs of fraud  

cover-ups or just plain incompetence an example  of this would be the analysis of rent payment  

receipts compared to unit occupancy if there  are more units occupied than rent collected  

there may be a problem I hope that makes sense  remember internal audits are reports that have  

been prepared by companies own auditing team to  review their financial protocol operations and  

procedures external audits are those performed  by an outside source to provide credibility and  

authority to the legal assertions being made  in many cases the culmination of the forensic  

accountants investigation will be a summary  of findings breaking down complex financial  

transactions into simple language to understand  let me tell you some other interesting stuff  

forensic accountants must be knowledgeable with  various computer software programs these are a  

must Microsoft Word Excel and PowerPoint for the  purposes of gathering analyzing information those  

are just the basics use a couple of works books  and look into programs like ASAP utilities and  

you'll become a guru in no time ethics plays a  large role in forensic accounting and experts  

need to display a high level of personal integrity  while conducting their work there are colleagues  

around the world offering programs that specialize  in forensic accounting the most recognized global  

certification is the Certified Fraud examiner  issued by the Association of Certified Fraud  

examiner's students learn theory on planning  a forensic engagement gathering information  

forensic interview protocols creating reports  and providing court testimony experience in  

general accounting and auditing is key as they  will need to disentangle complex embezzlement  

schemes detect money laundering and find hidden  assets forensic accountants can find employment  

working in law enforcement insurance companies  private companies and even government agencies  

also there are forensic accounting jobs to be had  in banks financial houses and investment firms the  

highest paid jobs are generally found working  for the SEC or after forensic accountants have  

advanced to higher levels of upper management this  field is expected to grow by 10 percent between  

2016 and 2026 according to the Bureau of Labor  Statistics and experts believe that the average  

wage could rise from 80,000 to 85,000 by the end  of this decade people who already have degrees in  

accounting can easily qualify for a higher wage  by completing the coursework to receive their  

financial forensics credentials yes forensic  accounting is extremely exciting and sometimes  

it can be hard to leave a job at the office as  fraud continues to grow more opportunity for new  

forensic accountants is the natural evolution  my name is David Malan to find out more about  

me and the services we offer please visit uncover  fraud , as well if you're interested in becoming  

a forensic accountant please subscribe to my  youtube channel there are articles and fraud  

videos regularly being published that will  help you throughout your career thank you